A Word on Strategy in Team Fortress 2

“Why can’t we destroy that sentry?”“Where’s the medic?”“Man, defending is hard.”

Do these statements sound familiar? Have you ever uttered them before? If so, ask yourself these other simple questions:

Am I playing as a Scout? Is there only one control point left to capture?Is every other person on my team a Scout as well?

If the answer to all these questions is “yes,” then you need to ask yourself one final question:

What…are…you…DOING?

I don’t care if you can run faster than greased lightning with a terrible case of the runs, your puny shotgun isn’t going to take out a rocket-firing sentry and two Heavys, each with Medics, anytime soon. And what makes you think that running up to an arsenal of machine guns with your baseball bat out isn’t going to get you killed the tenth time you try it? You need to change your class. Be a Spy, cloak, and go drain that sentry. Be a Demoman and keep lobbing grenades wherever that enemy Engineer goes. They’ve got a teleporter up there, which is why reinforcements keep popping up every ten seconds. Be a Sniper and headshot those Heavies, or better yet, the Medics that keep healing them.

Penny Arcade also discussed this next point, but it’s worth repeating. Yes, I know when you see a Heavy with a huge machine gun, your first instinct is to start blasting away at him. But you see that Medic lurking behind him and constantly healing him? He should be your target. A Heavy can do some considerable damage by himself, but a Heavy with a faithful Medic behind him is practically unstoppable. And while we’re lingering on that point, is it really that terrible to be a Medic? You get some kill points from the people you’re healing at the time, and you’re very presence can usually turn the tide in the match. Get that ubercharge filled and go turn one of your teammates into an invulnerable agent of death.

Now, I do understand that defending is hard. If only there were some device in the game that you could just set down at the spot you want to defend that would automatically fire at any enemy that gets close. Oh wait, that’s right, it’s called a sentry gun. Is the other team about to take your last control point? Then your options do not include the Scout. Be an Engineer and lay down some sentries and dispensers. Be a Heavy and keep the enemy from pushing their way in. Be a Medic and heal everyone in sight, especially the Heavies. Is it so hard to realize that your team needs at least one Engineer and one Medic to even have a prayer of surviving?

All I’m saying is that when I’m on a team that seems to know these key points, we tend to dominate; and by “dominate,” I mean pwn. And by “pwn,” I mean we kill their team twice over before they even manage to yell “WTF!” We all have a role to play in this battle, people. Find yours and be the best damn Medic/Engineer/Heavy/etc. you can be. The Scout’s not that bad, but there’s really no reason to have a dozen of them on your team. I don’t care if a bum rush won us the first round. We got lucky, and the enemy has adapted since then. You should as well.

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19 Comments on A Word on Strategy in Team Fortress 2

weclock

On September 23, 2007 at 7:58 pm

I love it when somebody finds it important to attempt to inform the unintelligent… because it usually falls on deaf ears, or those who already know better.

Does anybody even play Fortress Forever? Poor original TF gamers, it was a blow to the nuts with TF2.

noer

On September 29, 2007 at 9:40 am

the problem with ff was that they ported a game that everyone had already been done playing 10 years of, tf2 is a whole new game with new dynamics.

it’s incredibly fun, there’s an endless amount of strategy in it (uber pyro, all scout rush, pyro + engineer defense), and it looks amazing and it’s graphics will probably last for a long time before it shows it’s age due to the cell shading. Also valve/team fortress team seriously perfected the medic’s role, just look at the picture, the guy playing medic is completely content charging up the heavy cause he knows what’s gonna happen once his gauge fills to 100, whoever plays medic seriously feels like the most important member of the team hence why when you scream medic in a pub server you get healed pretty fast.

I played TF2 for the first time last night and it was amazing! I read the Penny Arcade comic before so I knew to watch out for the Heavies/Medics but that was pretty much all I knew about the game. I’m doing some reading so I can be better at the game- this article has helped me grasp the game a little bit better. Thanks!! ^_^b

Any strategy that works is a good strategy. If the enemy is dumb and has no sentries or well defended heavies, a wave of scouts will easily take a control point or the intelligence briefcase.

C4Cypher

On October 25, 2007 at 6:42 am

*strokes his spanner* Shh! If the scouts want to come play with my sentry, let them.

brewster

On November 10, 2007 at 7:31 pm

what works for me and my friends is when we all go scout and just rush them.

eddie

On November 10, 2007 at 9:39 pm

to be honest i’m not sure who this article is aimed at; the whole point of tf2 is that its manic – you try one strategy until you blow up and then try and think up a better one

firstly i’ve never been in a situation where the majority of a team is playing as scouts for more than the first minute

and these “helpful” tips – everyone aims at the medic the moment they see it but chances are no-one save the snipers are going to be able to hit the little guy as he darts behind cover and the heavy, without straying into the instant-kill range of said heavy. and besides, more often than not, the healed heavy will attract the crosshairs of every enemy in the area and will die within seconds, medic or not

you are not a tf2 expert merely from noticing the most basic of strategies

What I’d like to see is an article on advanced Spy strategy . Advice like unstealthing in hidden corners, being aware of the enemy team’s focus, making sure you are aiming the same direction as them, zapping sentries and then shooting them to make them die 10x faster (this is if the sentry was alone of course )

Tairn

On December 30, 2007 at 3:18 am

i would like ot see that battle… a whole team of scouts on def. sure i can play scout on def. but still a whole team?

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